Pastor: Paul D. Nolting

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WELCOME in the name of our risen and living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Pre-Service Meditation: Psalm 2

Pre-Service Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, by Your diving grace and through Your almighty power You raised Jesus Christ from the dead and, thereby, declared Him to be Your Son and our Savior from sin, death, and Satan. On this Easter Sunday as we come before you to hear Your Word and to thank You for Youu many blessings, please send Your Holy Spirit to fill our minds with understanding and our hearts with zeal. Cause us, O Lord, to fill Your house with praise, even as You have filled our lives with Your certain love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:1-15

Matthew records for us the resurrection story of our Lord and Savior. It was a true story confirmed by the empty tomb, announced by angelic messengers, believed and reported by the women, but denied by Jesus’ enemies. May we in simple faith and with great joy rejoice in this central teaching of our Christian faith!

SERMON:

(1 Corinthians 15:4)

The Foe was triumphant when on Calvary

the Lord of Creation was nailed to the tree.

In Satan’s domain did the hosts shout and jeer,

for Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear.

But short was their triumph the Savior arose,

and death, hell, and Satan He vanquished, His foes;

The conquering Lord lifts His banner on high.

He lives, yea, He lives and will nevermore die.

[TLH 198 st. 2-3]

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

89 years ago last night, the British luxury liner, Titanic, hit an iceberg and within 3 hours sank to the bottom of the north Atlantic. Over two-thirds of passengers lost their lives. The history of Titanic is a story of "if only….then, maybe." IF ONLY the ship hadn’t been going too fast for dangerous waters, THEN MAYBE the passengers would have lived and reached their destination safely. IF ONLY there had been enough lifeboat space for all the passengers, THEN MAYBE they all would have survived. IF ONLY the radio operator on a nearby ship would have been on duty and awake THEN MAYBE that ship could have come to the rescue and not so many would have died.

Thanks be to God that the HIStory of Easter is NOT a story of "if only…then maybe." The History of Easter is an account of truth with no regrets and a certainty of outcome! This morning we rejoice to know that CHRIST ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES! We consider first of all that Christ’s Resurrection was Foretold and is now also fulfilled!

The words of the Psalm we have just read were written by King David. In this Psalm, David expresses the sorrows and fears of following a false god, but then confesses how he has made Jehovah, the true God of Israel, his one and only God. He praised God saying, "I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel…I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved."

In the opening words of the text, David continues by expressing the confidence that he has because he is relying on the true God, "therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope." [v.9] David is filled with the joy of being a believer in the true God. The "heart" which David says is glad includes his emotions, his desires, his will, his goals/aims, his thoughts—his whole inner being is filled with gladness. David’s "glory," namely, everything that is part of his honor and wealth and well-being also leaps for joy! Every part of David’s inner and outer being is consumed by joy because he has made the Lord, Jehovah, his most important treasure (cf: v. 5f).

David continues, "For you will not leave my soul in Sheol (or in other words, you will not leave me in death and the grave), nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption." [v.10] King David’s confidence in the God of his salvation led him to a confidence that God would not abandon him, not even in death. However, when David speaks of "Your Holy One" and that the "Holy One" would not see corruption, David can no longer be speaking about himself. Intertwined with the confidence David expresses as a child of God, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write a prophesy concerning Jesus and His resurrection.

The apostle Peter, in his Pentecost sermon, helps us to understand that this is a prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection when he said: "Jesus of Nazareth…being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him…" (Acts 2::22ff), and then Peter quotes these verses of Psalm 16.

God’s determined purpose was that Jesus would die for the sins of all people, BUT rise again to life on the third day. God recorded His purpose into the Old Testament Scriptures and there declared that Jesus would not be left for the grave and His body would not see corruption!

God’s promise that His Son would rise again was so CERTAIN AND SO SURE that it had to come to pass. Listen carefully again to what Peter said, "…whom God raised up…because it WAS NOT POSSIBLE that He should be held by [death] BECAUSE David says concerning Him…" God’s purpose and declaration concerning Christ’s resurrection made it impossible for it not to take place!

In the sight of the empty tomb on Easter morning you have the confirmation of God’s declaration and of all the promises in His Word. In the "nothingness" of the empty tomb we have everything for our faith. In First Corinthians, Paul writes, "If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty… if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:14,17).

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the promise of God from Psalm 16 would be false. If any promise of God would prove to be false then all of our preaching would be EMPTY—it would have no substance. If God’s promises fail we have no hope, no forgiveness of sins, and certainly no life. All of the Gospel, our preaching of it, and the faith which we place in it DEPENDS upon and SURVIVES because of the truthfulness and faithfulness of God’s Word. Therefore the words of the angel to the women give our preaching substance, they give our faith something to grasp, and our hearts the assurance of life in Christ. The angel said: "He is not here, for He is risen AS HE SAID" (Matthew 28:6) and to that we could add, "as GOD HAD FORETOLD!

Lest anyone would think that it is a small matter when God fulfills everything that He foretells; or that these things could come about by mere coincidence, we should consider the miracle of Easter.

Jesus’ flesh did not see corruption. This is not the usual way of things and it takes more than coincidence to change that. In commenting on this Psalm, Paul said, "David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption," (Acts 13:36-37). Peter said, "Let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day." (Acts 2:29. David and everyone else like him dies, is buried and the body decays, but not so with Christ! He died to defeat death! He rose again without corruption to live forever! There is the miracle of Christ’s victory! What we have come to accept as the natural end of this life, was not the end of Jesus because He rose from the dead and now He lives!

Knowing that Jesus is living now and forever means that we have the confidence that He is not just some time-honored hero who served during His life and now is just a memory. HE LIVES!!! He lives FOR YOU!! HE LIVES TO SERVE YOU DAY BY DAY. He who died for your sins now lives again so You can be assured that your sins ARE forgiven! Jesus lives and is now day-by-day forgiving your sins. "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified…" (Acts 13:38). Jesus lives and is day-by-day pleading for you before the Father. He lives and is day-by-day guiding all things for you and for all other believers so that your souls might be preserved in faith throughout this life. Jesus LIVES to do all the things of which we sang in the earlier hymn [TLH #200] and even MORE!

Christ rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, to give you confidence in God’s Word, to give you the comfort of the forgiveness of sins, and to give you the knowledge that you have a living Savior who lives for YOU. To Him be all praise and glory! Amen!

What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean? It means, as you have already heard, that our Savior is indeed alive and as the Son of God with all power presently ruling over us at God’s right hand! It means that His Word—every bit of it—is true and trustworthy and, therefore, can serve as a solid foundation for our Christian faith! It means that the forgiveness of our sins is assured, because God has declared us righteous in connection with His Son. It means that by faith we are children of God and so can live our lives with confidence and with hope!

What, on the other hand, does the resurrection of Jesus Christ not mean? It does not mean that we will always lead easy and problem-free lives, for the Scriptures tell us that "we must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22b). It does not mean that we will never suffer the effects of crippling diseases, or that we will never experience great sorrow, yes, even death, for the Scriptures provide numerous examples of Christians in such situations and enduring death. It does not mean that we will never be persecuted. In fact the Scriptures tell us the exact opposite, for they say, "You will be hated by all for My name’s sake" (Matthew 10:22). If these things are true, and they are both in view of Scripture and common experience, how can Isaiah then say, "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken"?

My dear friends, CHRIST ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES! While the words of Psalm 16 foretold Christ’s resurrection, as we have already heard, these words of Isaiah assure us that we too will one day arise and enter Christ’s eternal kingdom in heaven! These words of Isaiah mean that we can and should live our lives with absolute confidence, for our ultimate future is guaranteed us in view of our Savior Jesus Christ! Consequently, what appears to be a contradiction is resolved by God’s gracious plans for our future!

"He will swallow up death forever!" St. Paul refers to these words of Isaiah in his great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, when he says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades (grave), where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Vs. 51-57).

My dear friends, nine of our brothers and sisters in Christ who were with us last Easter have died. To the world, it would appear that death has swallowed them up, but in Christ their death is but a temporary separation, for Christ has overcome death. For the child of God death is but a door to heaven. Our departed loved ones, who died in Christ, are now in the presence of their Savior, and our resurrection from the dead on the last day will demonstrate to all that death itself has been overcome by Christ as we stand in Christ!

It is at that time that "the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces!" In this life we are faced with many sorrows, but that will not always be the case. Turn to your resurrected Lord; trust in Him, for He can and will never leave or forsake you! He will bear you up in the midst of any sorrow. He will lead you through any trouble. Only listen to Him and follow His that guidance you find in His Word! Then, finally, when you have completed your life’s work, He will call you home. There in His presence, the Scriptures reveal, He "will wipe away every tear from their (your) eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

It is also at that time that our blessed Savior "will take away from all the earth…the rebuke of His people!" There are times, are there not, when people ask how you can possibly believe that everything in the Bible is literally true. There are times, are there not, when people react angrily when you present them with biblical truths, which run contrary to the common thinking of people in our society. This is especially true, when what God has to say contradicts the desires and plans of those to whom you are talking. Such situations ought not be surprising, for Jesus warned us they were coming. However, the Scriptures assure us that there will come a time when "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, both those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10). While some may scoff and scorn the truths we profess, our resurrected and living Savior will return on that last Day of Judgment, and all will stand before Him. Everything that He has taught and that we have believed will be revealed as true that day! Yes, and He promises that we will reign with Him throughout eternity!

My dear friends, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior means that we can live with absolute confidence today as we look forward to embracing our eternal tomorrow! We need not fear death. God will end all sorrows in His own time. We will by God’s grace live forever in His presence. To those truths, let us say, "Amen!"